Morris Kamara, 66, of Norcross, was taken to the hopsital with life-threatening injuries.

Kamara was walking northbound attempting to cross over Beaver Ruin Road. The driver of a 2002 GMC Yukon was traveling westbound on Beaver Ruin Road at the intersection of Red Oak Road. Maria Ramirez Villa, 43, of Norcross, was driver of the GMC Yukon. She said that she saw the pedestrian in the left hand lane and attempted to stop but was unable to stop in time.

(For more news like this, sign up for Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news in Norcross — or other neighborhoods. Access Patch on the go with our iPhone app or our brand new app for Android phone users.)

After the collision, the driver remained at the scene, police reported. A passerby called 911.

Kamara was taken to a local hospital by the Gwinnett County Fire Department.

Based on the preliminary investigation, speed and alcohol are not believed to be factors, police said.

Police urge all pedestrians to use properly marked crosswalks in order to more safely cross the roadways.

This story appears in the Dec. 17-24, 2018, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine—and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.

"Hell, yeah, it’s been wild," says Alvin Kamara. The Saints’ 23-year-old, do-everything running back is getting animated talking about his emergence, how he went from a cast-off college back to the vanguard of the NFL’s offensive revolution. "I never wanted to be famous," he continues. "I wanted to be successful."

Fame. Success. Kamara has attained both, matching preternatural talents with a sui generis style (dreadlocks, bull nosering, gold teeth) and an exuberant, accessible personality. (After home wins he’ll often walk back to his apartment amid the fans, then imbibe with them later that night.) But the path he traveled to get here has been marked by pit stops and detours. He has gone from undisciplined to unheralded to unstoppable in only a few seasons, and now he has climbed up the short list of the league’s most dangerous weapons.

Five years ago Kamara was just trying to dig his way out of Nick Saban’s doghouse at Alabama. A four-star recruit from Norcross (Ga.) High, Kamara had been injured early in his freshmen season; when he returned and found himself tethered to the bench, he turned standoffish and recalcitrant. He admits he was immature and blames only himself for the situation.

Things got so strained that Saban tailored a punishment for Kamara that the coach called "the box": four cones on the sideline where the castigated back would do push-ups, sit-ups and body-weight squats for the duration of practice. Kamara was suspended twice before leaving Tuscaloosa at season’s end, with fans deriding him on his way out.

A year later he was playing at Hutchinson (Kans.) Community College, where he encountered hip-high snow for the first time in his life. On weekends, while teammates went to Wichita or Manhattan to party, Kamara hunkered down in his room and played Call of Duty or read self-empowerment books, thinking about how to correct course. Even after a transfer to Tennessee, he still struggled to find his way. He spent 2015 and ’16 as a backup to Jalen Hurd and, despite superior numbers—higher efficiency, greater productivity—he was, essentially, an afterthought in the Volunteers’ offense.

Frustrated as he was with his role and his playing time, though, he still believed: If he just got a chance in the NFL….

That chance—after an eye-popping combine at which he led all backs in the vertical and broad jumps—came with the 67th pick in the 2017 draft. Kamara started at No. 3 on New Orleans’s depth chart, but he impressed coaches enough that by October the front office had traded away a still-something-left-in-the-tank Adrian Peterson. Despite splitting carries with Mark Ingram, Kamara made a run at the record books, becoming the first rookie since Gale Sayers in 1965 to score five receiving touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns and a kick-return TD. He put up 7.7 yards per offensive touch, the highest average in NFL history (minimum 200 touches), and led all rookies with 14 total TDs and 81 receptions (the third-most ever by a first-year back). By last February he was the easy choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

With Ingram suspended the first four games of 2018 for violating the NFL’s PED policy, Kamara broke through in an even bigger way. If in 2017 he was a paring knife, handling the ball fewer than 13 times a game, then in early ’18 he was a meat cleaver. As the lone back he averaged 22.8 touches, and through those four solo outings he led the NFL with 611 yards from scrimmage, tying for the league lead with six total TDs and entering the early MVP discussion.

Ingram is back—which is better for the Saints, with dual threats—but the 5’10", 215-pound Kamara remains the team’s top guy. He’s on pace to surpass his 2017 totals for touchdowns and all-purpose yards (projected: 18 and 1,703)—and he continues to link himself to some of the game’s most hallowed names. In a Week 4 win over the Giants he became the first player in NFL history with both 1,000 receiving yards and 1,000 rushing yards through his first 20 games. In a Week 9 victory over the Rams he joined Jim Brown as the only players to have three three-TD games in a single season before turning 23. A couple of weeks later he joined another exclusive list: Only he, Abner Haynes, Herschel Walker and Edgerrin James have ever accumulated both 500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving in each of their first two seasons.

"We put a lot on his plate last year, but we put even more on his plate this year," says Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. "There are plays where you just don’t know how he made that defender miss. So many wow! plays—plays that could have been a five-yard loss, and he turned it into a touchdown. He makes it look easy."

Kamara has a term for these moments: Matrix mode. A play will slow down for him; everything becomes clearer, and he says he’s able to see "10 steps ahead." He’s not worried about the defender trying to tackle him because he already knows how he’s going to evade that guy. He’s thinking about the next would-be obstacle. "I’m diagnosing moves before I make them," he says. "Ten yards down the field—I’m thinking about what I’m going to do when I get there."

And the poor sap who is able to get a hand on this NFL Neo? "[I’m] like water," says Kamara. "I’m flowing."

In this season of offensive innovation, he’s the paragon of the modern hybrid player, a mix of size and speed with limitless versatility; he’s a precise route-runner, hard to tackle, unfathomably efficient. If part of Saints coach Sean Payton’s eventual legacy is his employment of a Joker back—a multidimensional threat who can line up all over the field and create mismatches—then Kamara is a third and best draft of that design, after Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles. He’s either a running back who can seamlessly slot out to play receiver, or he’s a receiver who can line up in the backfield and run between the tackles, with the ability to score on every touch. "He sees the game, the big picture," says Carmichael, "like a quarterback does."

Whatever Kamara’s initial intentions, his playing style and personality have made him wildly famous. Fans mimic his look, wearing faux-gold teeth to the Superdome, dreadlock wigs on their heads, bull noserings in their septa. He’s cameoed in a Drake video and earned his own flavor of Airhead candy, Alvin Kamara Watermelon Zoom, with his smiling face plastered across the label.

"He’s not a secret now," says Carmichael. "Everybody knows who he is."

NORCROSS, GA — If you’re searching for a new place, you’ve likely already browsed through all the online listings for your area. And while you’ve probably learned roughly what these homes are like from the photos, you just can’t beat an in-person encounter with the real thing.

Ready to see what’s out there? To jump-start your search, we’ve made a list of the five latest homes to hit the open-house circuit in the Norcross area. That way, you can get a feel for what’s available before making the big decision.

Below is an address, photo, price, home size and open-house time for each property on our list — including one in the Peachtree Corners area with 4 beds and 3 baths for $550,000, and another with 3 beds and 3 baths for $233,000.

Like what you see? Simply click on any address in the list to get more photos and details. Happy house hunting!

A partnership of Liquid Capital Real Estate Partners and Wilson Investment Properties has acquired a 490-unit community in Norcross, Ga. The Fields at Peachtree Corners traded for $51.2 million, marking the partnership’s fourth major acquisition in the Atlanta area and the second in Gwinnett County.

Elite Street Capital sold the asset after a 2-year holding period. According to Yardi Matrix, the property previously traded for $36.8 million in 2016, when it also became subject to a $29.1 million loan provided by Fannie Mae and due in 2026.

The Fields at Peachtree Corners is located at 6520 Hillandale Drive. The community occupies 45 acres and comprises 40 buildings and a leasing office. The floorplan mix consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, ranging from 786 to 1,477 square feet. Common-area amenities include:

The nearby area includes the Peachtree Corners shopping center, several restaurants and immediate access to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Downtown Atlanta is located about 20 miles away.

According to the partnership, the choice to expand its Atlanta-area portfolio is based on the metro’s sustained economic and demographic growth. In particular, multiple job opportunities—it has the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters in the U.S.—make the location a viable choice in the eyes of investors, according to Wilson Investment Properties. The new owner of The Fields at Peachtree Corners plans to invest heavily in exterior and interior upgrades to the community.

“These offerings allow our investors to diversify their investment portfolios outside of stocks and Wall Street. Many of our clients love that they can invest directly in an institutional-grade product for a fraction of the cost,” said Tom K Wilson, principal at Wilson Investment, in a prepared statement.

The national nonprofit Welcoming Americawould like for metro Atlanta to become a “welcoming region,” one that would embrace people of all races and ethnicities.

The nonprofit, which is based in Decatur, so far has reached agreements with 103 cities around the country that are now welcoming cities, including five in our region: Atlanta, Brookhaven, Clarkston, Decatur and Norcross.

“We want to be the first welcoming region in the country,” said David Lubell, the founder and executive director of Welcoming America. “We are moving forward with the One Region Initiative – trying to bring cities and counties together.”

Lubell declared that goal at the first-ever “State of Latinos” conference held Jan. 29 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta and sponsored by the Latin American Association.

Lubell moderated a panel that included Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett, Brookhaven Mayor John Ernstand Norcross Mayor Craig Newtonas well as Michelle Maziar, director of the city of Atlanta’s “Welcoming Atlanta” initiative — all welcoming cities.

But now Lubell said the organization is beginning conversations with counties as well as other cities — and he’s convinced those designations will improve the region’s economy.

“We can do it,” Lubell said of metro Atlanta becoming a welcoming region. “From an economic development standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. Amazon wants to move to a region that no matter where their employees are from, they will feel welcomed and included all over the metro Atlanta region.”

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has provided financial support for the initiative, and it is working with other regional entities on the “One Region” initiative.

Welcoming America has hired Jordyne Krumroy, Atlanta regional manager for the initiative, to help bring the coalition together.

Krumroy said a 50-member bipartisan Steering Committee is being formed with a variety of stakeholders — elected officials, nonprofit directors, police, business owners, chambers of commerce, consulates, university representatives, lawyers etc. — from across the region.

The committee, scheduled to meet for the first time on March 1, will spend the next four months to work on a plan to turn metro Atlanta into a more welcoming region. The regional plan will be released in August, and then there will be a targeted effort to get more municipalities and counties to sign on and develop programs to serve their immigrant populations.

Georgia ACT’s new leader

The nonprofit Georgia Advancing Communities Together has named Bambie Hayes-Brown as its new president and CEO.

Bambie Hayes-Brown

Hayes-Brown, a native of Cordele, Ga., comes to Georgia ACT after having served as executive director for the Crisp Area Habitat for Humanity Inc., in which she increased mortgage collections by 63 percent and implemented the first Brush with Kindness Home Preservation Program and the first home-build in Dooly County.
Georgia ACT is a statewide membership organization with the mission to build and support a statewide network of trained professionals engaged in housing and community development serving families with limited housing choice. Georgia ACT is an advocate for affordable housing and works to increase the capacity of nonprofit housing and community development organizations.

Rainbow Village names new CEO

Melanie Connerhas joined the Duluth-based nonprofit Rainbow Village as its new CEO.

Melanie Conner

Conner was the former housing coordinator for Gov. Nathan Deal’s Office of Transition, Support and Reentry. Rainbow Village, founded in 1991, is dedicated to breaking the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence among families with children.

Conner is succeeding Rev. Nancy Yancey, who announced last June that she would be retiring from the organization at the end of 2017 after spending 24 years in the role.

“God’s been working in both of our lives to put us in this place,” Yancey said in a statement. “Melanie is a perfect fit, and I could not be happier. No one wants her to be more successful than I do. I want to be remembered as the second best CEO.”

Conner has had a colorful career that also included eight years at the Coca-Cola Co., a journalism degree from Georgia State University, a Master of Divinity in Christian Education from the Interdenominational Theological Center and a Master of Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Capella University.

*School data provided by National Center for Education Statistics, Pitney Bowes, and GreatSchools. Intended for reference only. GreatSchools Ratings compare a school’s test performance to statewide results. To verify enrollment eligibility, contact the school or district directly.

The price and tax history data displayed is obtained from public records and/or MLS feeds from the local jurisdiction. Contact your REALTOR® directly in order to obtain the most up-to-date information available.

*School data provided by National Center for Education Statistics, Pitney Bowes, and GreatSchools. Intended for reference only. GreatSchools Ratings compare a school’s test performance to statewide results. To verify enrollment eligibility, contact the school or district directly.

The price and tax history data displayed is obtained from public records and/or MLS feeds from the local jurisdiction. Contact your REALTOR® directly in order to obtain the most up-to-date information available.

NORCROSS, Ga., April 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Immucor, Inc., a global leader in transfusion and transplantation diagnostics, today announced that its next generation, fully automated Echo® instrument, Echo LumenaTM, has received FDA clearance in the United States to best match donor-patient blood. Echo Lumena, designed for the small to mid-volume laboratory segment, is Immucor’s fifth generation immunohematology instrument and brings brilliant performance and clearer test results with the smallest benchtop footprint and the fastest type and screen turnaround time on the global market.

Together with its fully automated sibling, NEO® (currently available in the US for larger volume testing settings), Echo Lumena and NEO offer a total standardized workflow solution for any laboratory. When combined with our innovative data management solution, ImmuLINK, laboratories are able to combine serology and molecular immunohematology results into one view, greatly improving a laboratory’s productivity. “Whether conducting five or 500 type and screens per day, every lab shares a critical goal to accurately pinpoint the best possible compatible blood match for anyone that needs it, when and where they need it. When our automation solution is combined with the sensitivity of Capture® technology to identify antibodies sooner than alternative technologies, it truly means laboratorians can be confident in the results they are producing for physicians and their patients,” said Keith Chaitoff, Immucor’s Chief Marketing Officer.

Christie Otis, Senior Transfusion Franchise Director, said “Immucor has been innovating transfusion medicine for more than 30 years. We are excited to build on the international success of the Echo Lumena launch by bringing our latest innovation to the vast number of US laboratories that will benefit from the accuracy, flexibility and performance available in the newest generation of blood bank automation.”

Echo Lumena builds on Immucor’s heritage of blood banking automation leadership and proven Capture® technology. The Echo family has been helping small to mid-sized laboratories automate high quality transfusion medicine since 2007 and has a footprint of more than 1,500 placements worldwide. New capabilities for the improved Echo Lumena system include:

Built-in Integration for Data Management and Support
Echo Lumena and all Immucor transfusion solutions integrate with the Company’s comprehensive data management software solution, ImmuLINK®, to aggregate all serology and molecular test results, generating a single report with a complete donor or patient testing history. Echo Lumena also includes a bi-directional interface with blud_directSM, Immucor’s 24/7 remote diagnostics and instrument support solution.

Echo Lumena is part of Immucor’s commitment to immunohematology automation. Immucor’s innovative technologies provide high-quality, high-performance and scalable solutions to meet the operational needs of blood banks, donor centers and labs, regardless of size or volume. Immucor’s total solution extends beyond instrumentation to include serology, molecular and platelet specialty products. Echo Lumena along with the next generation of our high volume NEO instrument, the NEO Iris™, are both CE marked for use in Europe. Clinical trials for NEO Iris are in progress in the United States.

Request a Demonstration
To schedule a demonstration of Echo Lumena, NEO or any Immucor solution, Immucor clients may contact their Blood Bank Business Manager or call us at 855.IMMUCOR (855.466.8267). For more information about Immucor products or to learn the regulatory status of our products in your country, please contact your local Immucor representative or visit www.immucor.com.

About Immucor
Founded in 1982, Immucor is a global leader in transfusion and transplantation diagnostics that facilitate patient-donor compatibility. Our mission is to ensure that patients in need of blood, organs or stem cells get the right match that is safe, accessible and affordable. With the right match, we can transform a life together. For more information on Immucor, visit www.immucor.com.

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Fred Burke, a Co-founder and President/CEO of Atlanta, GA-based Guardian Pharmacy Services has been tapped to serve as the new Chairman of the Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC), the Washington D.C.-based advocacy organization announced today. SCPC, founded in 2014, is the only Washington-based organization exclusively representing the interests of independent long-term care (LTC) pharmacies and the patients they serve.

Burke is a Co-Founder of SCPC and previously served as Treasurer and Vice-Chairman. He is the organization’s third Chairman — succeeding Phil Fogg, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Milwaukie, OR-based Marquis Companies and Consonus Health Care, and founding Chairman Michael G. Bronfein.

Joining Burke on the SCPC Executive Committee are Vice-Chair Robert Warnock, Senior VP of Pharmacy Services at PruittHealth Inc. in Norcross, GA; Treasurer Jeffrey Stamps, President and CEO of Remedi Senior Care in Towson, MD; Secretary David R. Lewis, President of Consonus Healthcare in Milwaukie, OR.

"Since our founding in 2014, Fred Burke has been pivotal in helping SCPC to quickly become an effective, trusted, research-oriented advocacy voice in Washington for LTC pharmacies and the vulnerable patients we serve," said Alan G. Rosenbloom, President and CEO of SCPC. "Fred’s knowledge of pharmacy operations, and seniors’ growing needs in this regard, has resulted in Guardian’s rapid expansion in the Southeast and beyond — and his expertise will significantly benefit SCPC as we continue to grow," Rosenbloom continued.

Rosenbloom said Burke’s leadership and guidance in the federal advocacy arena has helped SCPC grow significantly over the past two years, and that the group now represents LTC pharmacies that serve 45 percent of all patients in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities – or about 750,000 patients daily across the nation. These figures are up from 20 percent of all LTC pharmacies and roughly 375,000 patients just two years ago.

"I’m honored to serve as Chairman of the SCPC, and our growing success in helping to formulate and weigh-in on federal legislative and regulatory issues important to LTC pharmacies and our patients reflects the fact our bipartisan approach to policy and problem-solving works," Burke said. "Our ongoing focus defining PBM abuses, helping Congress control opioid abuse, and working towards establishing a federal definition of LTC pharmacy is vitally important to our members, our patients and the broader long term care and assisted living communities."

Burke and Rosenbloom praised outgoing Chairman Phil Fogg for his leadership in helping SCPC to establish a proprietary data warehouse specific to the LTC pharmacy sector to help drive policy and communications work through the lens of credible third-party research. Prior to Fogg’s objective of establishing a data warehouse in 2017, there were no independent, publicly available sources of data concerning Medicare Part D, LTC pharmacy economics or LTC pharmacy quality.

Prior to forming Guardian in 2004, Burke was Co-Founder and President of two start-up companies in Atlanta, which were each named to the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in the U.S.: Central Pharmacy Services, Inc. founded in 1992, which was acquired by Cardinal Health in 2001; and Sales Technologies, Inc., founded in 1983 and acquired by Dun & Bradstreet Corporation in 1989. Before his entrepreneurial career, Burke served as a brand manager at Procter & Gamble and a consultant and engagement manager at McKinsey & Company.

Burke served as an Officer in the U.S. Air Force, leading a combat communications unit, and received a B.S., Engineering from Mississippi State University, and an M.S, Industrial Administration from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.

The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) is the only national organization exclusively representing the interests of LTC pharmacies. Its members operate in all 50 states and serve 750,000 patients daily in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across the country. Visit seniorcarepharmacies.org to learn more.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/atlanta-eldercare-entrepreneur-tapped-as-new-chair-of-dc-based-senior-care-pharmacy-coalition-scpc-300632301.html

SOURCE Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition

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Craig Young, third generation owner of Young Truck Sales, was a finalist for the 2018 Truck Dealer of the Year award presented by the National Automobile Dealers Association.

CANTON TWP. Business performance and community service landed Craig Young and Young Truck Sales among the seven finalists for the 2018 Truck Dealer of the Year award presented by the American Truck Dealers, a division of the National Automobile Dealers Association.

It marked the third time the dealership has been a finalist in the competition. More than 2,300 around the country were nominated.

Young, who took the company helm in 1996, said he was excited and humbled to be nominated for the award from among “the thousands of truck dealers across the country.” The Ohio Automobile Dealers Association nominated Young. The company also was nominated in 2003 and 2011.

Rick Reynolds, president of Peach State Truck Centers in Norcross, Ga., won the award, which is sponsored by ATD, Heavy Duty Trucking magazine, and Procede Software.

Craig Young represents the third generation to lead Young Truck Sales. Herb Young started the business in 1954 and his sons, Richard and Robert, followed him into the business. Craig joined the business after graduating college in 1978 and ran it with his cousin Bob Young, who now is retired. Now the fourth generation — Craig’s son Zach and son-in-law Justin Candea and Bob’s sons Ryan and Adam — are involved with the company.

“We’ve got a good base in place to help them continue going on a good path,” Craig Young said.

The company has sales, service and parts dealerships at 2230 Shepler Church Ave. SW and 4970 Southway St. SW in Perry Township and represents the Volvo, Freightliner and Isuzu truck lines. There also is a leasing company and body shop. The business has 154 employees.

Away from the office, Young has served as president for Canton Rotary and is a board member with Habitat for Humanity. Both organizations provide service locally and internationally, he said.

Young said his father brought him into Rotary and he remained active, working several years with the group’s student exchange program. He has served in several officer positions over the last three years, including president last year.

Meeting and getting to know families who spend 18 to 24 months working in the Habitat program to get a house is gratifying and shows how much good there is in people, Young said. “It helps people to grow,” he said.

Young also has helped with Meals on Wheels in Stark and Wayne counties and Refuge of Hope.

In the trucking industry, Young has been president of the Ohio Truck Dealers Association (a division of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association), president of the Stark County Automobile Dealers Association, and a member of the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association. He has received Freightliner’s Aspire and Summit awards, which rank dealerships for customer service.

Timber kits featured at Hartville Hardware expo

Pioneer’s Pride do-it-yourself kits for building timber-frame structures will be part of the Hartville Hardware Home & Garden Expo this Saturday.

The expo features one-day savings throughout the store, prize drawings, more than 35 vendor demonstrations and a live broadcast of nationally syndicated radio program “At Home with Gary Sullivan.”

Pioneer’s Pride, based on Swamp Street NE in Marlboro Township, offers kits and products that include a pavilion, a pergola, a mini-barn, sandbox, doghouse, mailbox and mailbox post. Todd Schlabach, president of Pioneer’s Pride, said the kits are designed to be assembled in one afternoon.

The kits feature hemlock beams constructed with mortise and tenon joints secured by wooden pegs, which allows the kits to be assemble using simple tools, such as a wooden mallet.

Mall programming plans

Belden Village Mall hopes to increase community interaction with the launch of a program called Live 360 Degrees.

The year-round program begins this weekend with Red Cross Preparedness Day. The American Red Cross and Dominion East Ohio present the program, which has the goal of helping participants become “Red Cross ready” in the event of a disaster. Mall guests will receive a safety backpack filed with emergency supplies if they complete a pre-test and post-test to determine how prepared they are. The program runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Live 360 Degrees is a program developed by Starwood Retail Partners, owners of Belden Village Mall. The program was selected by Chain Store Age magazine as one of the best retail center experiences in the United States. Starwood said in a news release announcing the program that it realizes that Belden Village Mall, as a mixed use center, “belongs — first and foremost — to its community.”

Employees at Progressive Auto Group raised $44,500 in 2017 and distributed checks to 18 community charities, said Thomas W. Schmidt, co-chair of the Progressive Auto Group Civic Fund.

J.S. “Sandy” Sanders, founder of Progressive Auto Group, launched the employee civic fund in the early 1950s. The fund has grown through the years and raised more than $450,000 for the community during the past 10 years. Each employee contributes and makes recommendations on the local charities that are supported.

Grand reopening

Family Dollar’s store at 1207 12th St. NW plans a grand reopening event this weekend.

Thursday through Saturday shoppers can get giveaways and prizes, including reusable shopping bags, cookies and a gift basket raffle. On Saturday, the first 50 customers will receive a Family Dollar gift card. The grand reopening follows renovations at the store, the company said in a news release.

They promise to deliver

Grubhub Delivery has expanded into the greater Canton area.

The service connects hungry customers with their favorite restaurants. Customers can use an app on their smart phone or order online through Grubhub.com.

Grubhub Delivery offers no-demand food delivery from Bravo, Red Robin, DiBella’s Subs and other restaurants, including some local favorites. Users can use the code “CANTONFREE” for free delivery on their orders until April 19. Free delivery will be available with no minimum order price.

Until this week, area restaurants on Grubhub supplied their own couriers to make deliveries. Now Grubhub Delivery makes it possible for all restaurants to take advantage of delivery and expand their customer base by providing Grubhub drivers who can deliver from any local establishment.

For the twelve month period ended December 31, 2017, the company recorded net income attributable to Intelligent Systems Corporation of $473,000 ($0.05 per basic and diluted share), compared to a net loss attributable to Intelligent Systems of $1,112,000 ($0.13 per basic and diluted share) in the same period in 2016. Included in the 2017 year-to-date income is a previously reported one-time gain in investment income of $1,466,000 on the sale of a majority of the company’s minority equity ownership in a privately-held technology company in the FinTech industry.

Revenue was $2,546,000 and $9,302,000 in the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2017, respectively, representing growth of nine percent and fourteen percent, respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2016. The growth for the quarter and the year is attributable to an increase in our processing services customer base, an increase in the volume of transaction processing services and an increase in our maintenance technical and software support services, partially as a result of an increase in our license customer base.

Loss from operations was $704,000 and $1,403,000 in the three month and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2017, respectively, compared to losses of $136,000 and $687,000, respectively, in the same periods in 2016. Although revenue increased nine percent and fourteen percent for the quarter and year-to-date periods of 2017, as compared to the same periods in 2016, the company recorded a greater loss from operations in both 2017 periods, compared to the comparable 2016 periods, primarily due to a planned increase in R&D expenditures as the company continues expanding its development efforts via offshore staff additions, as well as, opening an office location in Mumbai, India to house key technical resources to enable continued enhancements to the features and functionality of its product offerings.

“2017 unfolded about where we expected it to be. We made continued solid progress in several areas that support our effort to achieve the scale we need to realize returns expected of FinTech companies,” commented Leland Strange, CEO of Intelligent Systems. “I believe we will continue to grow revenue in 2018 at a minimum to be on par with last year’s growth. We have on-going efforts that could result in significant revenue and profit increases; however, there is no certainty that these efforts will be successful and expenses may increase prior to our ability to recognize revenues. It will take time for some of our recent relationships to mature and their growth may not make a real impact until next year. We expect to continue growing while not taking risks that could hurt over the long haul as reputation is critical for financial software enterprises.”

Investor Conference Call Today
The company is holding an investor conference call today, March 15, 2018, at 11 AM Eastern Time. Interested investors are invited to attend the conference call by dialing (855) 766-6518 and entering conference ID code 7699684. A transcript of the call will be posted on our website at www.intelsys.com as soon as available after the call.

The company expects to file its 2017 Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15, 2018. For additional information about reported results, investors will be able to access the Form 10-K, when filed, on our company’s website at www.intelsys.com or on the SEC site, www.sec.gov.

About Intelligent Systems Corporation

For over thirty-five years, Intelligent Systems Corporation [NYSE American: INS] has identified, created, operated and grown technology companies. The company’s principal operations are CoreCard Software, Inc. (www.corecard.com) and its affiliate companies. CoreCard designs, develops, and markets a comprehensive suite of software solutions to corporations, financial institutions, retailers and processors to manage their credit and debit cards, prepaid cards, private label cards, fleet cards, loyalty programs, and accounts receivable and small loan transactions. CoreCard also offers prepaid and credit card processing services using its proprietary software solutions. Further information is available on the company’s website at www.intelsys.com or by calling the company at 770/381-2900.

In addition to historical information, this news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to Intelligent Systems Corporation and its subsidiary and affiliated companies. These statements include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or expectations of Intelligent Systems Corporation and its management with respect to, among other things, results of operations, product plans, and financial condition. The words "may," "will," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "expect," "estimate," "plan," "strategy" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new developments or otherwise, except as required by law. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are instability in the financial markets, delays in product development, undetected software errors, competitive pressures, changes in customers’ requirements or financial condition, market acceptance of products and services, and declines in general economic and financial market conditions, particularly those that cause businesses to delay or cancel purchase decisions.

a. Includes write-down of $750,000 on carrying value of investment in early stage technology company.
b. Includes gain of $1.466 million on sale of minority equity interest in a privately-held technology company in FinTech industry.
c. Includes gain of $372,000 on final payment after escrow period on prior minority investment sale.